Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte were found guilty of killing 16-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu on 20 April 2017 by pushing him from a moving vehicle after they found him stealing sunflower heads worth R80 at their employer's field at Rietvlei farm near the Scotland informal settlement.

Judge Ronald Hendricks found them guilty in October 2018 of murder, kidnapping, intimidation, theft and pointing a firearm.

Doorewaard was sentenced to 18 years behind bars and Schutte was handed 23 years.

The judge also said he had to consider the murder was not planned and the duo were first offenders, hence he deviated from imposing life sentences.

However, Doorewaard and Schutte had maintained their innocence throughout the trial. They said they had put Matlhomola in the back of the bakkie to take him to the police station but he had jumped out on the way.

They enlisted the assistance of Advocate Barry Roux and took the matter to the SCA to appeal their conviction and sentence, which was then successful.

AfriForum covered the full costs of the application for an appeal.

AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel said they had decided to finance the two men’s application for appeal because they believed in their innocence.

“Today justice was served,” Kriel said.

It was earlier reported that Bonakele Pakisi, the only eyewitness in the Coligny murder trial and who testified that he saw two white men throw Matlhomola Moshoeu, 16, from a bakkie on April 20, 2017, reportedly admitted that he lied to the court.

IOL